Rick Joseph Fuentes was just 26 when his fire truck left the road and flipped on FM 437 near Holland. He lived in Cameron and served with the Buckholts Fire Department. On Sunday afternoon he headed out to a vehicle fire mixed with a grass fire over on Wood Road. The Texas Department of Public Safety says the 1991 truck he drove rolled over in the 7300 block. Troopers found him with fatal injuries. Justice of the Peace Greg Hoelscher pronounced him dead right there at the scene.
Folks around Central Texas know how these calls go. A volunteer grabs the keys and drives toward the smoke while everybody else stays clear. Rick did that same thing. The truck stayed on the pavement for a stretch then veered off. Investigators are still looking into what made it leave the roadway. The scene stayed active for a while after the crash.
His family got the news that afternoon. A 26-year-old man who spent his time answering fire calls is gone. Friends in Cameron and the surrounding towns remember the guy who showed up when the tones dropped. The Buckholts crew lost one of their own on a routine run that turned bad fast.
Firefighters understand the risks better than most. They leave home knowing the next call could put them in a ditch or worse. Rick’s truck never made it to the fire on Wood Road. The grass and the vehicle kept burning while he lay in the wreckage. DPS troopers worked the scene and notified next of kin.
People who knew him talk about the quiet way he handled the job. No big speeches. Just another young guy in the department who climbed into the cab when the pager went off. Cameron is a small place. Word spreads quick when one of the local firefighters does not come back.
The department will keep running calls. Other members will climb into other trucks. They will think about Rick every time the tones sound for a grass fire or a vehicle fire. That is how it works in these volunteer outfits across Texas.
Rick Joseph Fuentes left a hole in the Buckholts Fire Department and in the lives of the people who cared about him. The investigation continues. The road where the truck rolled remains the same stretch of FM 437 that local drivers use every day.
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